, 1887-01-26

liz lfOHO III lH6 lOIS run UN UuG QlNCOulIi-
uance of corn culture i'll this country. 81
feel that it would be possible to draw some
income from the land even now if the ques-
ton of the labOurer were left ont, and the
land laid dOwnt to pasture; bat unless some
substitute for wheat is found there will be
no money TO pay the lnbourer." This, of
course is the great danger alead-the dis
appea. ance of the peasant in consequence
OF the conversion of corn farms into pas
tnre, and the cessation Of all necessity for
his eIviceS. That is what happened in
ancient Italy, in the later days of the
Roman Republic; and historians have ira.
crd the decline Of Roman greatness to this
very cause. No cutting up of the land into
small farms will prevent such a cOnSumma-
ton, unless agriculture can he made to
pay. One generation of small holders
might possibly exist, and then the class
would dwindle away in obedience to a ma
Iural law.
But Def re proceeding to such remedies
as MIR. DE Laune relies upon, If may be
aS We'll 40 look fol a moment at the figures
addnced by Mr.. Little, which are quite
enough to account for the sleepless nights
and irritable moods of the Onct-proSpPrOus
British huSbandman. Mr.. Little, the Chair
maIl of he Farmers Club, takes the last
twenty ~yrarS-the whole series, that Is,
for which Agricultural Returns have been
cOllected-and divides them into two equal
pp.lOdS of ten years. He then compares
the ;ye"age gross nnual value OF the
staple produce OF the soil during the
second p riod with what it was in the
first, and the results which he brings
out are, as he very justly says, start
ling. TIL number of acres under the
plough during the two perio Is respectively
are also set out for lis, and Il brief study OF
these tables is sufficient to show that corn
growing in this country has been going
down hill at Il pace calculated to a~stoni>h
many persons who fancy they know some
thing about agricultural depression. Be.
tween 1866 and 1879 the ave. age number
Of acres in Great Britain devoted to wheat,
barley, and oats WAS nine million four
hundred and eiglty-seven thousand. Be
tween 1876 and 1880 it was eight millions
eight hundred aud sixty one thousand,
In 1885 it was eight millions three hundred
and minety-tWO Thousand. But it is when
we turn to the value OF the produce that
the decline assumes its most formidable
aspect. The average annual value of the
wheat crop from 1866 to 1875, in England,
Walls, an Scotland, was thirty-three
million five hundred and thirty thousand
pounds. From 1876 to 1856 it was twenty
one mill on nine hundred and sixty thou
sand pounds. The contraction of !he area
under wheat in the second of the two Pc
RODS was accompanied by u slight expan-
sion Of the area under barley and oats.
But, though the yield was proportionateIy
larger, the value still fell below the ave.
rage Of the earlier decade. During the
first ten years the annual value of the bar
ley crop was eighteen million nine hundred
and sixty-four thousand pounds, and Of
oats sixteen million nine hundred and
eleven thousand pounds. During the last
decade the former sank to sixteen millions
nine hundred and ninety -four thousand,
and the latter to fifteen millions four hun
dred and eighty-one thousand pounds. Not
to weary the public with figures, it may
suffice to add that though the whole cult
waited area of great Britain is larger in the
second decade than the first, yet the in
crease has been entirely absorbed by 70.
rage crops and permanent pasture. The
next question that arises is this-Seeing
that nearly three million more acres are now
given up to stock growing, do we fi0 any
corresponding increase in the yield and in
the value of beef, mutton, and wo0lf I'm
happily, inthe case of only one of these
commodities call an affirmative answer be
returned. The value of the beef supply
does show a slight increase. The average
annual supply has risen from three hun
dred and sixty. eight thousand tons, 1866
1876, to three hundred and ninety-nine